Car-coupling.



No. 734,935. PA-TENTED JULY '28, 1903.

' W. A. PALMER. I

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION TIL ED APR. 17, 1903. I N0 MODEL. h 2 SHEETSSHEET 1- 191mm v attuned No. 734,935. PATENTED JULY 28, 1903 W. A. PALMER.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.17, 1903.

NO MODEL. 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

m; NORRIS PETERS co, PHOTCLLITHCL, ms-ms TTTTT c UNITED STATES ratentea July as, lees.

PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM A. PALMER, OF ENSLEY, ALABAMA;

CAR-COUPLING;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,935, dated July 2 8, Application filed April 17, 1903. Serial No. 153,134. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, VVILLIAM A. PALMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ensley, in the county of Jefierson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic car-couplers of the Janney type, wherein the coupling-knuckle is both opened and held closed by the locking-pin arrangement, the locking-pin and its attachment being so constructed and cooperating with the coupling-knuckle as to open the same when elevated and be supported in its elevated position by the coupling-knuckle until the same is returned to its closed position and locked by the release and gravitation of the pin.

To more fully describe my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to corresponding parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved coupler; Fig. 2, a similar view, the couplerhead being shown in horizontal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4:, a perspective View of the coupling-knuckle, and Fig. 5 a perspective view of the lockingpin and its attachment.

A is the ordinary hollow draw-bar of this style coupler provided with the enlarged'head cast hollow to form a chamber for the reception of the operating parts. The hollow head has the vertically-disposed rounded internal rib or shoulder A, adapted to fit the curved rear edge of the knuckle-tailpiece, hereinafter described.

On the top of the coupler is formed the housing A slotted at A to receive and guide the locking-pin and attachment, and the lower face of the coupler-head is also slotted, as at A Figs. 2 and 3, for the reception of the lower end of the locking-pin attachment.

B is the coupling-knuckle, pivoted at C to the hollow draw-head and provided with a tailpiece comprising the toe-member portion 13' and the heel B This tailpiece, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, is curved on its outer edge face B to closely fit the rounded rib A of the coupling-head and is straight on its inneredge face I) to engage the coupling-pin when the knuckle is closed, the heel portion B being beveled on its upper face I) and rounded on its lower surface b D is the coupling-pin, preferably substantially triangular in cross-section, having the straight side faces d d and the curved front face d adapted to engage a correspondinglycurved shoulder formed' in the hollow drawhead. Means for raising the coupling-pin may be suitably secured through the aperture d Pivotally suspended at its upper enlarged end E to the pin D by means of the pivotpin F and split pin G is anattachment or member E, which I have termed the knuckle-opener, in exterior contour somewhat similar to the figure 5. The upper portion of this swinging knuckle-opener is substantially L-shaped and provided with a hook or tailpiece curving downwardly, as at E, from the point E and projecting inwardly at its lower end to form the finger E The inner face of the finger E is curved upwardly, forming the cam-surface E until it meets the lower beveled edge e of the shoulder e. The lower beveled face of the shouldere projects a short distancebelowthecoupling-pinD. The locking-pin and knuckle-opener are formed with flanges or shoulders d e which rest on the top of the housing A and support them thereon. The locking-pin when the parts are assembled is inserted through top slot of the coupler-head and the shank end of the knuckle-opener through the bottom slot A The operation is as follows: In its normal closed position, Figs. 2 and 3, the couplingknuckle B is securely locked bythe face (1 of the locking-pin engaging the face I) of the knuckle-tailpiece, the shoulder of the knuckle-opener resting against the inner face of the heel B and the curved portion B of the tailpiece resting snugly against the rounded rib A. As the pin D is raised to uncouple when the shoulder 9 passes beyond the heel B the weighted finger E gravitates downwardly and inwardly, the beveled edge a resting on the beveled edge b of the heel B As the operation is continued the curved portion or cam-face e rides against the curved face 6 of the heel B and swings the coupling B open, the pin D when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position resting on the toe portion B, and it is retained in its elevated position until the coupling-knuckle is again closed, when the heel B engages the side face of the shoulder e, swings the knuckleopener E outwardly, and allows the pin D to drop in position to lock the coupling-knuckle.

It will be observed that the lower edge e of the shoulder e is slightly below the lower edge of the pin D; otherwise the heel B when swung inwardly would pass beneath the beveled edge e of the shoulder e and prevent the pin D from dropping down. Thus it will be seen that I provide a simple and efiective means for both automatically opening the coupling-knuckle when the lockingpin is raised and locking the same upon its return to the closed position.

Although I prefer the construction and arrangement of parts as herein described, it is obvious that modificationsmight be made without departing from the spirit of my inv'ention, and

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a lockingpin adapted to be moved and rest on said knuckle when in its open position, and a member pivotally mounted on and normally suspended alongside said locking-pin having a cam-face adapted to engage said knuckle when the locking-pin is moved upwardly.

2. In-a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece on said knuckle, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, and a member pivotally carried by and normally suspended alongside of said locking-pin having a cam-surface adapted to engage said tailpiece when the locking-pin is moved upwardly.

3. In a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece formed integral with and disposed centrally of said knuckle in a horizontal plane, alocking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle isin its opened position, and a member pivotally mounted on and normally suspended alongside said locking-pin having a cam-face adapted to engage said tailpiece when the locking pin is moved upwardly.

4;. In a car-coupler, the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle,'of a tailpiece on said knuckle provided with a heel portion, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, and a member carried by said locking-pin having a cam-surface adapted to engage said heel when the lockingpin is moved upwardly.

5. In a car-coupler, the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece on said knuckle provided with a heel portion, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, and a member carried by said locking-pin having a curved cam-surface adapted to engage said heel when the locking-pin is moved upwardly.

6. In a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece provided with heel and toe portions, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said toe portion when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, and a member carried by said locking-pin having a cam-surface adapted to engage said heel portion when the locking-pin is moved upwardly.

7. In a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece carried by said knuckle and provided with a projecting heel, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, and a pivotally-mounted hook member carried by said pin, provided with an inwardly-projecting shoulder and a finger extending below said shoulder having a curved cam-surface adapted to engage said heel when the locking-pin is moved upwardly.

8. In a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece carried by said knuckle provided with a projecting heel beveled on its upper face, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, a hook member pivotally suspended on said pin, a finger forming the curved end of said hook member and adapted to engage said projecting heel when the locking-pin is moved upwardly, and an inwardly-extending beveled shoulder formed above said curved finger.

9. In a car-coupler the combination with the pivoted coupling-knuckle, of a tailpiece provided with a projecting heel portion rounded on its lower surface, a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest on said tailpiece when the coupling-knuckle is in its open position, and a member carried by said lockingpin having a curved cam-surface adapted to engage said rounded heel portion when the locking-pin is moved upwardly.

10. In a car-coupler the combination with the hollow draw-head provided with an internal vertically-disposed rounded rib or projection,acoupling-knuckle pivoted in said drawtailpiece and swing said knuckle open when head adjacent said vertical rib, a tailpiece on the pin is moved upwardly. 10 said knuckle provided with a toe portion In testimony whereof I afifix my signature 'cnrved to fit snugly around said vertical rib, in presence of two witnesses. 5 a locking-pin adapted to be moved and rest WILLIAM A. PALMER.

on said toe portion when the coupling-knuckle Witnesses:

is in its open position, and a member carried FRANK DEEDMEYER, by said locking-pin adapted to engage said JO N S. GOING. 

